The wrong way to vet candidates

When Mike Bock, publisher of DaytonOS, and member of the Montgomery County Democratic Party Central Committee, stood up and tried to get an amendment passed for the party constitution to “Not endorse in primaries”– to let the people decide- the response of the “Party Faithful” was: “Well then, what would the screening committee do?” I spoke up- and said, “Find, groom and prepare candidates for every elected office.” We were both laughed out of the room.

Enter former local newscaster, Guy Fogle. A man who may have good intentions, and is probably just as capable of being a congressman as any of the crooks we now have in office, and the paper does a hatchet job on him, 5 days after he gets on the ballot:

Fogle has had a series of financial problems, with three mortgage foreclosures and five judgments, all still open, filed against him in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court in the past decade. In 2008, he filed for bankruptcy, listing $4,000 in assets and $284,000 in liabilities.Fogle said Monday, June 14, that those problems, which started when he developed testicular cancer in 1998 and continued through bouts of unemployment, are one of the reasons he is running.“There have been times that I’ve lived in a car,” Fogle said. “I’m not backing away from what happened to me.”

[UPDATE] 9:58AM the DDN stopped taking comments on this story- after a number of people questioned its motives, considering Fogle’s wife works as a stringer for the paper). Even though he’s been part of the media for years, he obviously doesn’t understand it well. He should have been well out in front of this, with his case online, long before this story hit. Fogle will not be taken seriously by anyone, especially Turner. His campaign is toast.

However, before you cast stones, just remember, that unless you are rich, or working for the government- your job, your mortgage, or your health insurance are all questionable these days. This could happen to you. Unfortunately, due to Mr. Fogle’s fight with cancer- he’ll lose the fight financially. Our health care system is an embarrassment, and Turner is partly to blame. Just remember, that your outrageous health insurance premiums go to multi-million-dollar paychecks for CEOs for Anthem, United Health Care and even CareSource (which only works with Federal money)

Should Guy Fogle be a candidate? Probably not. But, with the way our system works now, with its protection of incumbents, barriers to the ballot, costs of elections, media scrutiny, you almost have to have a death wish, or have faced some pretty terrible things to have the gumption to run.

If nothing else, without hearing him speak once politically, I have more respect for Mr. Fogle now for trying than before I learned of his troubles.

Just remember, we’re heading to an America with only three types of people, the super rich, the poor, and those who work for the Government. Mike Turner is already 2 out of three.

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Funny you mention it… there’s an article I saw today, either in the WSJ or NY Times, that talks about how 93 percent of the citizens in Dafur have basic health care for only $2 a year. Granted, it is very primitve by our standards and $2 might seem like a lot to them, but they have the comfort of knowing they will get some kind of medical care when they need it.

@CSAPT we can’t provide national health care because we haven’t figured out how insurance company CEOs can continue to pay themselves hundreds of millions a year (and giving huge amounts to Congressional campaigns).

It would be nice to have a link to that article.

@GreenChileHead – welcome. And yes, we know Turner is a hypocrite- he brag’s about his “support of ” NDAA on his Facebook page as well.

Nice pick up on the hypocrisy by Missile Boy Mikey. Even one of his “friends” calls him out on the facebook link as he voted NO. That decent will not last long.

Another provision I championed requires the Obama administration to specifically report to Congress on how it intends to implement missile defenses to protect our homeland and our allies, particularly our European allies. Without providing specific plans, Congress would have been unable to provide oversight and proper funding to ensure that the administration’s defense strategy is working.

Now what does the 3rd district care about missiles from whom exactly and in Europe exactly. Maybe Mike wants to protect the French from????? A real brain trust!

Greg- if you weren’t such an ignorant, self-asborbed, left-wing nut, you might realize that Members of Congress, will on occasion, focus on issues of national importance, not just local. hmm, like the security of our nation- probably the reason for Turner’s amendment. Whether or not you agree with his position- Turner, especialy in his capacity on the House Armed Services Committee, certainly has the Congressionally directed ability and jurisdiction to act on issues that relate to the defense of our nation.
Editors note: Posting under fake names- or as someone elses, is prohibited behavior here.
However, I do step in- and remove the bs- I’m sure with the typos- this comment will be voted down and gone soon- DE

Nothing in the post I made is factually innacurate David. Turner has the jurisidiction- especially as the chairman of the subcommittee on Armed Services dealig with missiles. I guess that would make him the one of the most senior Republican in the House of Representatives on missile issues. keep whining about how you will never win an election because of your little ninja escapade. the internetz is a scary place

1939-1945: Wage freezes enacted by government made it illegal to pay employee’s more. The private market to circumvent this offered health insurance to attract the employee’s that they wanted. This was a tax deductible event, avoiding payroll tax and income tax.

Even though this is an action of compensation to a person, it is not taxed. So, it made sense to offer tax deductible events to employee’s instead of wages.

My HSA plan as an individual $105.00 / month. I cannot write it off on my taxes. An identical plan through my S-Corp $181.00 / month, but I can write it off in full. This makes the cost to me almost identical, I just get to choose if I want more money to go to insurance companies or the government.

If you have no insurance and have a 2K dollar surgery, you cannot write it off. However, if you have a 2k dollar surgery with an HSA plan, you can write it off. One cannot establish their “own” HSA. Point being, the government incentivizes people to purchase from insurance companies.

I do not understand how people think that more government meddling can fix government meddling.

Guy Fogle was my English teacher for a short spell in Jr. High. I remember pissing him off……….alot.

I do not understand how people think that more government meddling can fix government meddling (Robert Vigh)

Superlative observation, Senor Roberto. For if Marx is correct, and religion is the opiate of the masses, then surely government is the opiate of the cultural Marxists. To big government cheerleaders, government is a religion, complete with the faith that the almighty state is omnipresent and omnipotent, and entitled to involuntary tithe. For years, the Old Bandito has referred to “Wizard of Oz Syndrome” in reference to perception of the state. Early on in the story, Dorothy perceives the wizard as an all-powerful semi-deity whose wishes, no matter how outlandish or dangerous, were beyond question and had to be obeyed. And that is not an inaccurate description of how many statists feel about the all knowing government. Later, after Dorothy has met the Wizard’s demands but who is still changing the rules and demanding even more, the Wizard is revealed to be a fraud. And when an individual makes that same observation of the state who claims to be a protector, a new view of government takes place. And last and alas, when Dorothy was relying on the now-unmasked Great Oz to keep the promise to fly her back to Kansas, the Wizard takes off leaving her and her great expectations in the lurch. And that isn’t a bad description of what happens to anyone who believes anything the government promise or relies on the government for anything. But Dorothy really didn’t need the Wizard, nor did the Scarecrow, Lion or Tinman, for they all had within themselves the wherewithall to go Over the Rainbow without the Wizard’s help. And if that ain’t a Libertarian message, the Old Bandito doesn’t know what is….

Greg- if you weren’t such an ignorant, self-asborbed, left-wing nut, you might realize that Members of Congress, will on occasion, focus on issues of national importance, not just local Sorry just as Monsanto Hall tried to feed the world and did not look out for the interests of the 3rd District with the obvious exception of Monsanto, so too does Missile Boy Mikey play in a realm beyond the limits of his brain and the greater good for the 3rd District. I am sorry but I blame the voters 3rd on the list as the there are two other groups that have a great influence over the ignorance that prevails in Dayton, specifically the Dayton Daily News and the Dayton Leadership that resides in the business community. The DDN has failed to question the decisions of Turner or his positions as the revenue stream from ads generated by whats left of the business community prevents the questioning of their motives or direction that they push this country. I am in agreement that government cannot solve all the problems and should be pared down significantly and the best place to start that paring would be in the Armed Forces. There is no agency with a more bloated budget and self righteous attitude than the DOD. Yes the business community will use the youth of our country as the shield for questioning ANY acquisition made by the Military. Weak and a genuine disservice to our country and the personnel that are truly on the tip of the spear. I do not question the fact that the Armed Services Committee should look at these issues such as Missile Defense, but I find Missile Boy Mikey’s amendment of missile defense systems does not wash with the less than detailed responses to other MORE PRESSING ISSUES that face the community. His three positions as they relate to the military (missiles, lauterbach and custody of children) are less about the strategic initiatives of the US and are shameless re-election maneuvers. Missiles for money and women and children for sympathy votes. He is THAT SHALLOW and your defense of him… Read more »